Ghana coach Chris Hughton has said that he cannot guarantee that he’ll end Ghana’s long trophy drought because no coach can give such an assurance.
Addressing the media at his unveiling in Kumasi on Monday, Hughton said what he can guarantee is to work hard to put the Black Stars in the best position to excel.
The 64-year-old said he aims to institute the right tactics, mentality and deploy the right personnel to achieve the team’s goals.
“Coaches cannot guarantee a trophy. There is no one, because we [coaches] cannot guarantee anything,” Hughton said.
“What we can guarantee is we will work as hard as we can to put a team together; to create the right tactics, the right mentality, the right personnel to put ourselves in the best position to do that. And the first that comes is qualification, so we will work as hard as we can.”
Hughton also promised to spend more time in Ghana and to pay attention to players in the Ghana Premier League.
Asked about the seeming reluctance of recent Black Stars coaches to pick players from the local league, the former Brighton manager said things will be different in his time.
“I will be spending more time in Ghana. I will be watching more games. I am constantly being made aware of players who are doing well,” he told the media.
“I’ll be paying more attention to [GPL] games because it is important that we have a strong national league.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has confirmed that Hughton has signed a two-year contract until December 2024.
His first assignment as Ghana coach will see him take charge of the Black Stars in their double-header 2023 AFCON qualifier against Angola.
Ghana will host Angola in Kumasi on March 23 before facing the Black Antelopes four days later in Luanda as they aim to book their place at next year’s tournament.
